MPS rebukes conservative writer who called students 'little convicts' in column about new athletic fields

Milwaukee Public Schools will break ground Thursday on a new $5.7 million stadium at Vincent High School on the city's north side. The facility will include artificial turf for football and soccer, an eight-lane track, seating for 1,200, restrooms, locker rooms and more.(Photo: Milwaukee Public Schools)

A conservative blogger who disparaged Milwaukee Public Schools students as "little convicts" has drawn stinging rebukes from MPS and state lawmakers, who have criticized his remarks as hurtful, racist and dishonest.

The backlash comes in response to a recent column by Right Wisconsin Editor James Wigderson, who made the remark in an essay referencing $11 million in planned upgrades for MPS' athletic fields, including a new $5.7 million stadium at his alma mater, Vincent High School.

The upgrades were being made, he said, "presumably so the little convicts can have the best facilities before being sent to the penitentiary."

"The next time someone tells you that MPS needs more money, remind them that more money does not mean a better academic performance," Wigderson wrote. "And if they ask for evidence, ask them if $5.7 million could be better spent than on a new stadium for a failing school."

MPS issued a statement Tuesday, touting its students' achievements and saying it is proud to "provide the same access to state-of-the-art facilities for our students as districts in surrounding areas have for theirs" and accusing Wigderson of cyberbullying.

"MPS is outraged — as every parent in the City of Milwaukee should be — that an adult would feel free to make such a derogatory, hurtful, and dishonest statement about more than 75,000 children," the statement said.

"We have far too many students who work hard every day and who accomplish great things to let an ill-informed and hateful statement stand without comment," it went on to say.

Current and former state lawmakers also weighed in.

"This is beyond offensive, pure ignorance and complete 'BS,'" wrote state Sen. LaTonya Johnson, a Milwaukee Democrat. "MPS is home to 77,000 children. These children, and their families, deserve to be treated with respect and dignity."

This is beyond offensive, pure ignorance and complete 'BS.' MPS is home to 77,000 children. These children, and their families, deserve to be treated with respect and dignity.

State Rep. David Crowley, another Milwaukee Democrat, said he must have been one of the "little convicts" for whom tax dollars should not be spent.

"This kind of racist undertone is how the right communicates," Crowley tweeted. "This rhetoric is how Trump and the Republican Party continue to rally their white supremacist and base and cannot be met with silence."

I guess I was 1 of those "little convicts" that $$ shouldn't have been wasted on huh? This kind of racist undertone is how the right communicates. This rhetoric is how Trump and the Republican Party continue to rally their white supremacist and base and cannot be met with silence

Barnes issued a statement saying, "We have long been ranked the worst state for black Americans, and the governor's allies continue to drive a wedge and make things even worse with their rhetoric."

MPS Superintendent Keith Posley declined to comment on the remarks during a visit to Reagan High School where U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education Frank Brogan was meeting with students to discuss their anti-bullying efforts.

District spokeswoman Denise Callaway said MPS is not seeking an apology but said the district will use the opportunity to help people understand what it is doing to educate students.

And Callaway made it clear that she deemed Wigderson's piece "unacceptable."

Asked if she considered it racist, Callaway said: "That is for other people to judge. It certainly perpetuates stereotypes, which are by definition untrue."

"How small is it to be a cyberbully against children?" Callaway said.

Wigderson did not return an email from the Journal Sentinel asking to discuss the column but criticized Journal Sentinel columnist Dan Bice, who first raised the issue on social media.

Wigderson tweeted that he was referring specifically to Deontay Long, a standout Milwaukee basketball player who was recently sentenced to five years of probation for his role in an armed robbery last year.